A bird's eye view of the Alexander Hamilton Bridge in New York, which is being renovated by China Construction America, a subsidiary of China State Construction Engineering Corp. [Provided to China Daily]

Thomas Friedman, the New York Times columnist and co-author of That Used to Be Us, argued in 2008 that it is time to "reboot America", citing the need to catch up with the advanced airports and rail stations he saw on a visit to China.

Francis Fukuyama, a fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University, wrote in a Financial Times piece that the "most important strength of the Chinese political system is its ability to make large, complex decisions quickly, and to make them relatively well, at least in economic policy".

This is most evident in the area of infrastructure, he wrote, adding: "Americans pride themselves on constitutional checks and balances, based on a political culture that distrusts centralized government."

Aaron Brickman, deputy executive director for SelectUSA, a program set up by the Obama administration to stimulate foreign investment, said the US is welcoming global companies with expertise and high quality of work for US infrastructure projects at a "difficult time".

"Many US subsidiaries of foreign firms have been very successful here on projects," he told China Daily by phone. "Chinese firms are no different. So there are all kinds of companies from around the world that have established US subsidiaries that bid on and win projects."

However, the involvement of Chinese companies in helping to rebuild US infrastructure is not necessarily popular.

Last year, when California's transport department chose Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries Co China's largest heavy-machinery maker to build the new San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, US industrial groups did not react well.

Luis Alejo, a California assemblyman, said the decision to outsource the project to China had done damage to the state.

"It gives thousands of (US) families those jobs, and then those pay checks and their subsequent spending ends up going back into our (the US) economy. And so now all that money has permanently disappeared from California," he said in an interview with NPR.

Californian officials who were involved in the project, however, believe it was the right way to go, as Zhenhua, which has built some of China's largest bridges, has the expertise and lower cost.

The cost of the project was about $7.2 billion, and having the Chinese contractor build it saved about $400 million (by outsourcing the fabrication of key sections of the Bay Bridge and having other work done locally), according to Tony Anziano, a manager at the California transport department.

Many still see it as a way to "outsource jobs" to China.

Scott Paul, executive director of the Alliance for American Manufacturing, said the US is subsidizing jobs in China by giving them infrastructure projects. "We are not creating any wealth in the US," he said.

Meanwhile, Alaska Iron Workers declared in a recent radio advertisement, "This is not the time to send more jobs to China."

Yuan at CCA said he believes this is a misunderstanding, explaining that his company complies with the "Buy America" sentiment just like any other bidder.

"We offer competitive prices and world-class expertise for all the projects we bid for," he said, adding that 90 percent of his company's 1,000-strong workforce in the US are local hires.

"We only hire local workers for our job sites across the country," he said. "In New York, we only hire union workers, and we have created thousands of jobs over the years."